Credit: Matt Stone

Credit: Matt Stone

Now three days after walking off the mound with a strained right forearm, closer Joel Hanrahan continues to feel so much soreness that he’s having trouble gripping a baseball.

And so the Red Sox are seeking the opinions of two noted orthopedic surgeons.

The images from Hanrahan’s MRI exam have been sent to Dr. James Andrews and Dr. David Altchek. Based on the findings of the Sox’ medical staff, the MRI didn’t indicate structural damage to the elbow but confirmed a strain of the flexor mass, where the tendon meets the joint.

According to Hanrahan, there’s some question over whether the damaged tendon has been protecting the ligament as it’s supposed to. If the ligament has been affected, surgery may be a possibility, although the Sox hope that is an extreme scenario.

“That’s one of the things they’re looking at, to see how that ligament looks,” Hanrahan said. “I think you could probably go through this clubhouse and look at everybody’s ligament and it’s not going to be like a 12-year-old’s ligament. So that’s one thing they’ll look at, to see if that ligament has been compromised.”

The Red Sox expect to hear from Andrews and Altchek today. In the meantime, Hanrahan has been icing his arm and riding the exercise bike.

“There’s not a lot we can do. Just sit, wait and do treatment,” Hanrahan said. “It’s been sore pretty much all throughout that area since Monday. It’s still sore.”

Hanrahan left Monday night’s game in the ninth inning after allowing a game-tying homer to Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier and feeling pain two batters later on a pitch to outfielder Josh Willingham.

In nine appearances, Hanrahan has a 9.82 ERA, six walks and only five strikeouts in 71⁄3 innings.

Fellow closer Andrew Bailey, sidelined by a strained right biceps, is scheduled to begin a light throwing program today. He’s eligible to be activated before Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Middlebrooks sore

One day after colliding with catcher David Ross while making a sensational sliding catch of Chris Parmelee’s foul pop-up, third baseman Will Middlebrooks underwent an MRI exam on his sore ribs. Like the X-rays taken Tuesday night, it revealed nothing more sinister than a bruise.

“Pretty sore,” Middlebrooks said.

Middlebrooks tried unsuccessfully to talk his way into the lineup for last night’s 15-8 loss to the Twins, hitting off a tee and taking swings in the batting cage. Manager John Farrell said the Red Sox are hopeful Middlebrooks will play tonight.

“He’s banged up a little bit,” Farrell said. “We do know through the imaging there were no fractures of any kind, so that’s checked out. He’s sore.”

Ross, meanwhile, experienced decreased swelling and greater flexibility in his bruised left knee. He was able to ride the exercise bike and take batting practice, leaving him available to back up catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia last night.

“I was really sore and limping (Tuesday) night. Woke up and could bend it,” Ross said. “Squatting still felt a little tight. I think there’s some swelling in there, but I think the training staff did a good job. We hopped on it to get treatment a lot (Tuesday) night, and I took a machine home to ice with. If it had been worse (yesterday), I probably would have been concerned.” . . .

Lefty Franklin Morales allowed two hits and struck out three in two scoreless innings of a rehab start for Double-A Portland.

Papi’s streak stops

David Ortiz went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts last night, snapping his career-long 27-game hitting streak. It was the sixth-longest streak in club history and the majors’ longest active streak.

Ortiz is batting .381 (24-for-63) since opening the season on the disabled list, and if it is possible, Farrell believes he’s a better hitter than he was two seasons ago.

“It starts with his work routine leading up to (batting practice), and then what he sets out to accomplish every day on the field pregame,” Farrell said. “You rarely see him look to drive the ball out of the ballpark.”

Instead, Ortiz works on hitting the opposite way to left field, something he didn’t do as often earlier in his career. Farrell suggested that playing with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez helped to make Ortiz a more well-rounded hitter.

“I do know that there were conversations that took place (between Ortiz and Gonzalez),” Farrell said. “I’m not saying that’s the whole reason, but he’s matured and gotten better with time.” . . .

Given the state of the depleted bullpen, Farrell said he considered having a position player pitch the ninth inning. He opted instead for closer Junichi Tazawa, who hadn’t pitched since Sunday in Texas.

“He had the most rest of anybody down there,” Farrell said.

Iglesias returns

Slick-fielding shortstop Jose Iglesias was back in the lineup for Triple-A Pawtucket after a three-game benching by manager Gary DiSarcina.

The Red Sox were vague about Iglesias’ absence, but DiSarcina shed light on the situation last week when he said Iglesias is “trying to muddle through” in Triple A after opening the season in the majors and going 9-for-20 (.450).

“The realization for him has been, ‘I’m not on a rehab assignment down here. I’m here until either someone gets hurt or there’s a trade,’ ” DiSarcina said. “He’s here to work on being consistent.”